GamerHub.tv The Disney Cruise Line now has four ships sailing the seven seas. The oldest ship, Disney Magic, is now the newest, in a way. Disney has renovated the ship with brand new technology, including video game experiences only available on Magic. The centerpiece of the new ship -- at least for comic book fans -- is the first collaboration between Marvel and Walt Disney Imagineers. Marvel's Avengers Academy is located in Disney's Oceaneers Club, which is open...

Discount travel company China Spree, based in Bellevue, Wash., recently changed its name to World Spree Travel to reflect a wider range of trips offered to other destinations in Asia. And though the company name has changed, the good prices haven't. World Spree is offering an eight-day package in late fall and winter called Timeless Beijing for $888 per person double occupancy. The price quoted is a cash discount rate, which requires a $200 deposit and payment by personal check or money order.

Who cares if it's hot? Certainly a pint-sized princess doesn't when she's busy getting bejeweled and bedazzled. Despite the Southern California summer heat, 4-year-old McKenzie Reyes was all smiles, decked out in the sumptuous long-sleeved, floor-length green Princess Merida dress, a tiara in her hair and sparkles on her fingernails. Princess Merida, for the uninitiated, is the newest Disney princess, the central character in the summer movie "Brave," which is set in Scotland ...

- A story Saturday about the death of three Aurora teenagers and the mother of three young children misidentified a family member of one of the victims. Renee Steffan is an aunt of Jennifer Roberts. - In the listing of cruise line addresses in the Oct. 12 Travel section, the wrong ships were listed for Disney Cruise Line. The ships are Disney Magic, which will begin service in March, and Disney Wonder, which will begin service in late 1998. The Tribune regrets the...

It has been a rough couple of months for the cruise industry. In January, the Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Tuscany, Italy, leaving 17 dead and 16 missing. Early this month, two Princess Cruises ships cut short their journeys and returned to Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades because outbreaks of the flulike norovirus. While the Costa Concordia is seen as a rare accident, the outbreaks of sickness on cruise ships give pause to many potential passengers. "It's...

GamerHub.tv The Disney Cruise Line now has four ships sailing the seven seas. The oldest ship, Disney Magic, is now the newest, in a way. Disney has renovated the ship with brand new technology, including video game experiences only available on Magic. The centerpiece of the new ship -- at least for comic book fans -- is the first collaboration between Marvel and Walt Disney Imagineers. Marvel's Avengers Academy is located in Disney's Oceaneers Club, which is open...

By Arline and Sam Bleecker, Special to Tribune Newspapers | January 23, 2011

Cruise lines have personalities too. Matching your personality to a cruise line is the best recipe for an outstanding vacation. If you're reserved, for instance, you wouldn't dream of taking a cruise on a party boat. Though finding the right cruise line ultimately is a matter of taste, we've put some lines on the couch to determine what makes each one tick. Here's a brief sketch of some of the more popular lines. Carnival Cruise Lines: the Lady Gagas of the seas. The 13...

Amid charges that cruise ships upset Alaska's delicate environment, two cruise lines have enlisted new technology to battle pollution. In July, Princess Cruises began plugging its ships into the power grid during port calls in Juneau. A custom-built connection at the South Franklin Street Dock allows the ships to turn off their smoke-emitting diesel engines and tap into hydroelectricity from Alaska Electric Light & Power to run on- board services. Also in July, Holland America was certified by the...

By Robert N. Jenkins, special to Tribune Newspapers | November 21, 2010

PAPENBURG, Germany — The hull of the Disney Dream features a sculpture of Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer's Apprentice, dreaming while the miniature enchanted brooms he has created go about their chores. If they are responsible for installing all the technology aboard Disney Cruise Line's first new ship in 111/2 years, they've been very busy brooms indeed. Passengers sailing on the Dream's three- and four-day trips from Port Canaveral, Fla., will find that much is not as it first...

It has been a rough couple of months for the cruise industry. In January, the Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Tuscany, Italy, leaving 17 dead and 16 missing. Early this month, two Princess Cruises ships cut short their journeys and returned to Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades because outbreaks of the flulike norovirus. While the Costa Concordia is seen as a rare accident, the outbreaks of sickness on cruise ships give pause to many potential passengers. "It's...

Here are some of the more interesting deals, Web sites and other travel tidbits that came across our desk recently: Planeterra, which specializes in voluntourism, has 11 new programs for 2010, ranging from working at the world's largest panda reserve in China to helping build an eco-playground out of recycled materials on the island of Santa Cruz in the Galapagos Islands. Except for international air, these volunteer vacations average $85 a day and include most meals, double or shared group accommodations,...

In a delay of an all-too-familiar kind, Disney Cruise Line recently announced that its second ship, the Wonder, will debut Aug. 15. Though Disney's press release never called the delay a delay, anyone following the trajectory of the fledgling cruise line knows the Wonder was scheduled to set sail this spring. This latest lag is the ripple effect of two earlier construction delays on Disney's first ship, Magic. But Wonder's late debut is not expected to cause too many waves, according to the...

By Arline and Sam Bleecker, Special to Tribune Newspapers | January 23, 2011

Cruise lines have personalities too. Matching your personality to a cruise line is the best recipe for an outstanding vacation. If you're reserved, for instance, you wouldn't dream of taking a cruise on a party boat. Though finding the right cruise line ultimately is a matter of taste, we've put some lines on the couch to determine what makes each one tick. Here's a brief sketch of some of the more popular lines. Carnival Cruise Lines: the Lady Gagas of the seas. The 13...

With so much to do for kids aboard today's jam-packed megaliners, your brood -- from toddlers to teens -- would have every right to be miffed if they were left behind while you sailed the Seven Seas. Kids at sea are not an afterthought but, for many lines, an essential part of the cruise picture. Carnival Cruise Lines, for instance, expects to carry more than 600,000 kids aboard its fleet of 22 ships this year -- a six-fold increase from just a bit more than a decade ago. More than a...

The Disney Cruise Line is now offering a seven-night Caribbean cruise in addition to its three- and four-day sailings. While the Disney Wonder will continue to offer its combination land-and-sea vacations that combine a three- or four-day cruise with a three- or four-day stay at Disney World, the Disney Magic expands the cruise experience with a cruise that offers three days at sea, and three ports of call--St. Maarten, St. Thomas and Disney's own isle, Castaway Cay. Just as on...

Guidebooks "Fodor's Puerto Vallarta 2008," Fodor's, $17.95; ISBN: 978-1-4000-1856-7 The Mexican resort town of Puerto Vallarta is often associated with elegant spas and sandy beaches and endless warm nights drinking exotic drinks. That it might be, but the guidebook also emphasizes its natural beauty (cobblestone streets, green hills and a "sparkling" bay), its exceptional folk and fine art or the pleasure of just watching one of its spectacular sunsets. It...